If you’ve been training for more than five minutes, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve already gotten to know the exercise known as standing biceps curls. Let’s take a minute to review them, and ensure you have been doing them correctly to get the most out of this movement!

Q: How is the movement completed?
A: This exercise is a very simple one. Stand with your feet shoulder length apart, and your hands gripping a barbell with an underhand grip. Using your biceps, and with your upper arm in a completely fixed position, slowly curl the barbell up toward your chin. Pause for a moment at the top once you have completed this positive part of the movement. Then, simply lower the weight back down to the starting position.

Q: Are barbell curls more of a size or detail builder?
A: The answer is both, but you will definitely see an increase of overall biceps size with this movement much more than with any other exercise. If you walk into a gym and see a guy with great biceps, there is a 100% chance he developed them at least partially with the use of standing barbell curls. Ask him!

Q: What kind of set/rep range should I be employing?
A: If the goal is mass building, then you should treat it like any other mass building movement. Complete 4 to 5 sets, keeping your repetition range somewhere between 8 and 12 repetitions. Any higher and you stop building mass, and any lower and you risk injury.

Q: What about thumb position?
A: Your thumb should always be in the opposing position, facing the other fingers of the hand. You can use a Supinated grip, with the thumb on the same side of the hand as the other four fingers, if you want to take the emphasis off of the total biceps and focus upon the peak. This is not recommended for beginning trainers.

Q: Can I cheat in order to move more weight?
A: In many exercises this technique is effective, and biceps are no exception. The problem, however, arrives when trainers begin cheating with poor form from their first set on. It’s acceptable to cheat the weight a bit once you have completed four sets with perfect form. This is known as training beyond failure, and can lead to some good muscle growth. You can always train with your back to a wall to ensure you don’t allow too much hip swing or upper arm movement to come into play to help complete this movement.

Q: Should I use this movement every workout?
A: Absolutely. Along with standing alternate dumbbell curls, this exercise is king of mass builders. You should start most biceps workouts with barbell curls when you are at your strongest.

Q: Any other recommendations?
A: If you are interesting in bringing out more detail and definition in your arms, you should flex the upper arms between sets. Flex them very hard, for about 30 seconds each time. This will help bring out biceps peak, triceps shape, and the added veins and vascularity you desire. Good luck!

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